One of Teller County’s largest employers is poised to change hands again.

Greenwood Village, Colo.-based Newmont Corp, billed as the world’s largest gold mining company, announced at a recent investors’ meeting that it will divest of lower-producing holdings, including the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine in Victor.

In last month’s 2023 year-end earnings’ call, the publicly traded company said it plans to sell six mines in total to focus on Tier 1 and emerging Tier 1 assets to “deliver on its clear and consistent strategy.”

In addition to the historic 1890s-era gold mining district in Victor, Newmont will shed three large gold mines in Canada: Eleonore in Quebec, and Musselwhite and Porcupine in Ontario.

Others on the chopping block are the Akyem gold mine in the Eastern Region of Ghana, and Telfer, a gold, copper and silver mine in the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia.

Also being sold are two “non-core” projects, Havieron, a gold-copper project in Western Australia, and Coffee Gold Project, a gold mine in the west-central Yukon Territory in Canada.

Newmont completed acquisition of a copper mine, Newcrest in November, President and CEO Tom Palmer told investors in February.

“Our principal focus for 2024 is to integrate and transform our leading portfolio of Tier 1 assets into a unique collection of the world’s best gold and copper operations and projects,” he said.

Jeff Mosher, special projects director for the city of Cripple Creek said Monday that a mine representative told him the mine remains a strong asset, but the company’s portfolio is too large, thus it selling some of its smaller properties.

The news of an impending change in ownership is a “here we go again” scenario for locals, Mosher said.

The company has sold four times over the past few decades, he said.

“It’s a little nerve-wracking for folks that live and work there,” he said. “Typically, you’ll see movement at the very top, but they don’t get rid of all the staff.

“It’s pretty solid what they do and the Memorandums of Understanding they have with the city and county and nonprofits have survived in the past,” he said. “So, we are anticipating things will continue as they are.”

Still, Mosher said, “We’re not looking forward to it; it’s good to have someone (an owner) that’s stable.

Newmont bought the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine in 2015 from AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., for $820 million plus a 2.5% net smelter return royalty on future gold production from underground ore.

The open-pit surface mine recovers gold from ore by heap leaching.

Formerly the Cresson Mine, the most lucrative gold mine in Colorado history and the only remaining significant gold producer in the state, the Cripple & Victor Gold Mine is an influential business both nationally and locally, Mosher said.

“There’s a lot of gold and precious metals in electronic devices and cell phones,” he said. “And gold is going up in price.”

Gold was selling for just over $2,100 an ounce on Monday, reports showed.

Newmont currently is expanding its leach pits to add tonnage on the ground and increase the value of the operation, Mosher said.

It is unknown when the company will go on the market, but a sale within 12 months is the goal, according to a corporate spokesperson.

The mine’s production target for 2024 is just under 200,000 ounces of gold, Mosher said. The mine’s 2022 production was 182,000 ounces of gold, according to its website. That’s down substantially from its height of 329,625 ounces mined in 2005.

Last year, Newmont Corp.’s global production was 5.5 million gold ounces and 891,000 gold equivalent ounces from copper, silver, lead and zinc, according to the year-end report.

Philanthropy is another significant aspect of the mine that community leaders hope will continue. The Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine donated $500,000 last year to Teller County nonprofits and government agencies, Mosher said.

“That’s a pretty good impact,” he said. “It’s a goodwill gesture that benefits the whole county.”

Trucks transporting ore and unusable minerals from open-pit mines at the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine. (Gazette file photo)

Debbie Kelley, The Gazette file photo